TEENAGE Middlesbrough striker Tom Craddock has agreed to join Wrexham on loan for a month and is set to make his Dragons debut against Bristol Rovers on Saturday.

The 19-year-old Darlington-born player scored twice for Boro&#x2019;s second string in their recent clash with Liverpool reserves at the Racecourse &#x2013; a match watched by Wrexham boss Denis Smith &#x2013; and he comes highly recommended.

Malcolm Crosby, who worked with Smith for many years and is now Gareth Southgate&#x2019;s No 2 at the Riverside, has given Craddock a glowing reference and the youngster will train with his new team-mates this morning for the first time.

The teenager was a member of Boro&#x2019;s FA Youth Cup-winning side in 2004 and made his Premiership debut in the final match of last season, but Smith admitted the signing represented something of a gamble.

&#x201c;In an ideal world I would have gone for an experienced striker, but Tom comes to us highly recommended by someone whose judgment I trust and I know that he can play and score goals,&#x201d; he said.

&#x201c;But taking youngsters is always a gamble, as it was when Jon McAliskey came here from Huddersfield.

&#x201c;I was offered one experienced player, but he has not played for six months because of injury and he would have needed a few games just to get back into things.

&#x201c;On the other hand, Tom is very mobile and he has a very good pedigree. He is a player I&#x2019;ve known about for some time, but Gareth Southgate was not particularly keen to let players go out on loan earlier in the season.&#x201d;

The Racecourse boss is also optimistic that he will further strengthen his squad with another loan signing next week.

But he declined to comment further because the club involved have yet to decide whether the player would be permitted to feature in the first-round of the FA Cup, which takes place on November 11.

And he confirmed that central defender Craig Morgan &#x2013; currently on loan from MK Dons &#x2013; had been given a free transfer.

One of seven players released by Dons boss Martin Allen on Monday, Morgan&#x2019;s name was not mentioned in the club&#x2019;s press release because he was already at the Racecourse.

&#x201c;Craig was going to play in the friendly at Stoke, but he got a call on Monday afternoon telling him the news, which came like a bolt out of the blue,&#x201d; said Smith.

&#x201c;Although he trained with us in the morning he needed some time to talk to his agent, which was fair enough, and that&#x2019;s why he didn&#x2019;t travel over for the game.

&#x201c;Obviously Martin doesn&#x2019;t fancy him, which is why he let Craig come here on loan, but it&#x2019;s come as a shock, especially happening so soon after he made his Wales debut.&#x201d;

Morgan, who won his first senior cap for Wales earlier this month, will be free to switch clubs in the January transfer window and his current Racecourse deal expires two weeks on Monday. But the Dragons boss said any talk of a permanent return to Wrexham, where the 21-year old began his career, was premature.

&#x201c;I&#x2019;m sure he will get himself fixed up somewhere and I don&#x2019;t know if he would be interested in coming back here because I&#x2019;ve got other things on my mind at the moment,&#x201d; he said.

&#x201c;For a start he needs to get back to playing well because he&#x2019;s not had the best of beginnings here, probably due to the fact that he is short of match practice. We know he has got the talent and I will always sign good players regardless of what&#x2019;s gone on before.

&#x201c;You don&#x2019;t have to like people to get the best out of them, but I&#x2019;m sure Craig&#x2019;s agent will be talking to other clubs ahead of us because we don&#x2019;t have any money.&#x201d;